


running away with the circus is a hackneyed troupe but it keeps on happening: a short fiction piece

by BeesandBaobabs



Category: Auideas - Fandom
Genre: Auideas, Original Fiction, Runaway AU, Trans Character, aac2k16, circus AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 20:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8815177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeesandBaobabs/pseuds/BeesandBaobabs
Summary: Auideas AAC2k16 day 9: "Joining the Circus" AU: Milo has the notion that he can run away from home and join the circus, but while sneaking around the camp at night, Milo is caught by the mysterious, glittery ringmaster -- who oddly reminds Milo of a leprechaun.





	

The difference that a few hours could make was astounding; earlier Milo had been sweating in his clothing, but now he was freezing his ass off as he crouched behind a stack of crates. Milo held his breath as two roustabouts – “circus performers” in fancy words – passed by his hiding spot. The night air was absolutely freezing, and Milo was sure that the two workers would have been able to hear his chattering teeth if the two of them hadn’t been so much gossiping. 

“—and I told her that there was no way I could cover her shift, you know, because then I would be working almost 16 hours straight. So she basically tells me ‘fuck it’ and she skips out anyway!” The first one said, blowing out a cloud of cigarette smoke before passing the cigarette to his companion.

“That’s so like her! You should complain,” said the second worker.

“Hah! Okay yeah sure, and what would that do? Because like, let’s be real here, Boss literally could care less as long as the work gets done.” 

“Didn’t Jose break his wrist and Boss basically told him to slap it in a split and get back working?” 

“I wouldn’t put it past her, but at the same time, you know how Jose likes to blow things out of proportion…” The second worker took one final drag from the cigarette, then tossed it to the grass near where Milo was hiding. He winced slightly as the worker’s heavy construction boot ground the glowing ember into the grass, then the two of them finished walking away. As terrified of Milo was of getting caught, he was also pretty intrigued about whatever the two of them had been talking about; he had always had a weakness for gossiping. 

Waiting for an extra couple of minutes, Milo make sure that nobody else was going to be coming, then he slowly eased his way out from behind the stack of crates. The knees of his jeans were soaked from kneeling on the muddy ground, and the bottom of Milo’s duffel bag was equally dirty. All he really wanted right now was to find an empty, unlocked moving truck – preferably one with some blankets lying around – hunker down, and then wake up the next morning many, many miles away from Greensville. 

Milo slunk across the camp, ducking around stacks of boxes and between the large work trucks – all of them Ford brand, every single one of them – until he had made his way over to where the trailers and moving trucks were parked. The work crew had mostly finished packing everything up. What hadn’t been loaded that night would be finished in the morning before everybody headed out at daybreak. Milo’s heart was racing as he looked over each trailer; they were all locked. 

“Just my luck,” Milo whispered under his breath. It was cold, he was wet, and nothing was turning out the way that Milo had hoped that it would. When he had planned this all out, he had expected to be sitting pretty and cozy by now, with his headphones in and drifting off to sleep…

Another harsh wind cut though Milo’s denim jacket and he shivered. Looking around, he couldn’t see any unlocked moving trucks. Every single one was locked tight with a padlock – damn roustabouts and being precautious. Milo guessed that he was going to have to go with plan B: find an unoccupied RV and hunker down for the night. 

Readjusting his duffel bag, Milo shoved his hands deep into his pockets and quickly began to walk across the half-disassembled campground. He was just another cold roustabout that wanted to find his bed and go to sleep, nothing suspicious about him at all. Nope. Unfortunately for him, all of the parked RVs and camper trailers were parked on the other side of camp, far away from where Milo was. 

He had made sure to do his research before trying to run away. There was a reddit feed where an ex-carnie had been answering questions about what it was like to live with a traveling carnival – of course there was a difference between a carnival and a circus –and Milo had learned that workers lived in a sort of long trailer that was divided into smaller ‘apartments’ almost, though some people drove their own trucks if they had a trailer attached. 

Maybe that’s what he would do in the future. Save up enough money and buy himself a truck, live with a traveling circus or maybe even see if he couldn’t get a job with the Renaissance Fair – he could pull off the medieval peasant look, probably. It wouldn’t be glamorous or anything, but Milo would be able to get around, see the USA, be around artists and other cool people that would—

“What are you doing out here?” a nasally voice crooned. 

Milo practically screamed as a bright flashlight beam hit his face and figure emerged from the shadows by the Porta Potties. With his terrible night vision, the only distinguishing feature that Milo could make out was that the figure was very short and stout, and they were wearing a top hat. ‘Like that cartoon leprechaun,’ Milo thought absently. 

The figure made an impatient noise. “I asked you, what are you doing out here? It’s a little late to be taking a walk.” 

“I, um, yeah, I was just,” Milo balked, trying to shield his eyes from the light. “I was just looking for the toilets.” 

“For the toilet?” 

“Yeah, I have to use the restroom.” 

“Hmm.” The figure walked towards Milo, their shoes squishing ominously in the mud – who would have thought that sound could be ominous. “I don’t think that’s true.” 

“I’ve got a bad stomach. It’s been really weird lately because of my…new medication that I’m on. I think I might be allergic or something.” Milo was trying to think fast, coming up with any bullshit excuse that he could. “I know it’s a little too tmi but I’ve really got to poop.” 

The figure finally stopped in front of Milo, and he could see that the figure could only be around 5’4”, 5’5” if he was being really generous. “It’s a little strange to take an overnight bag to the bathroom.” 

Milo opened his mouth to spit out another lie, but he closed it a second later; it was no use, he was caught. “Yeah, you got me, sorry.” 

“What are you doing out here?” The figure didn’t sound angry, just inquisitive. Maybe a little bit annoyed, but mostly genuinely curious as to why Milo was wandering around camp at night. 

“I was…well I mean. I guess that I should say that I am. Or really I should—” Milo searched for the right words, but he was coming up empty. “I’m running away from home.” 

“You're running away from home to join the circus? Aren’t you imaginative.” 

“It’s my only option at this point, other than death.”

A shocked silence hung between the two. Milo was impressed with himself for coming up with something that deep on the fly, it usually took him days to come up with witty comebacks like that. 

“Well, I would say that death is a little extreme for anybody,” 

“—not in my case.”

“But,” the figure continued, now sounding a bit peeved, “the circus might have a place for you, temporarily at least. We’re short on staff right now, and as long as you’re a legal American citizen over the age of 18, we might be able to offer you something.” 

Milo was stunned. This was not the way that he had imagined his night going. “I’m sorry, but wait, not that I’m not totally thrilled by the offer but I mean, should I be talking to somebody who is like, in charge? Do you guys have somebody that is over the hiring and stuff?” 

The figure laughed and pointed the flashlight away from Milo, focusing the beam on their own face. Everything about them was glittery. Bright, kind eyes stared up at Milo from underneath sparkly, purple glitter eyebrows, and silver glitter worked as a highlighter on their rosy cheeks. The figure – a woman? A man? Both? Neither? – smiled impishly, their lavender lips just barely curling up at the ends. “I’m the ringmaster here, and I make the rules as to who gets to join us.” 

“Oh, that’s cool.” Milo was lost for words. 

“Sure is,” the ringmaster laughed and turned away from Milo. “Come back to my trailer and we’ll talk. I’ve got paperwork for you to fill out if you want to be legally working for us, makes it easier to stay if anybody tries to send the cops after you, and we’ll have to find you some last minute sleeping arrangements for the night. Tomorrow morning, we’ll put you to work with the trucks. Do you have a driver’s license?”

“Yes, but it’s under the wrong name for me.” Milo wasn’t in the mood to describe how the name was wrong, but he felt like the ringmaster wouldn’t be the type of person to care. 

“We can work around that. What name do you like to go by?” 

“Milo.” 

“Well then, Milo, welcome to the circus.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back????? It's been so long since I've even tried to write anything, but I have such a major weakness for circus AUs and I saw this prompt and immediately started working on it. It was all very hastily written, but this is all practice for 2017 when I really focus on making content! Anyway, enjoy!


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